


Gravity Falls: Prologue to Gravity Rises

by Writing_Shepherd



Series: Gravity Rises Universe [1]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Angst, Bill Cipher Being Bill Cipher, Bill Cipher Returns, Canonical Character Death, Human Bill Cipher, Limbo, Prologue, Prophecy, Purgatory, Sad Bill Cipher, Second Chances, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-24
Updated: 2020-11-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:08:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27691160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Writing_Shepherd/pseuds/Writing_Shepherd
Summary: "The key to being happy is knowing you have the power to choose what to accept and what to let go."Bill invokes the ancient power of Axolotl in order to return to the mortal realm so he can yet again try to right his apparent wrongs. Axolotl, as usual, speaks in riddles that leave Bill with more questions than answers. What exactly does she plan for him as she dumps him back in Gravity Falls, encased in stone, and what exactly will be this so-called key she mentions?(See end notes for more information.)
Series: Gravity Rises Universe [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2025035
Kudos: 10





	Gravity Falls: Prologue to Gravity Rises

The first signs of consciousness were slowly making themselves known to him. He could hear whispers around him, but those could easily be fragments of his perceivably shattered mind, and he was pretty sure he could feel the surface under him pulsing with a steady energy current. As he began to gain more consciousness, he became painfully aware of how much his body tingled and burned like he was still being burned alive in those wretched blue flames that he’d become so known for. 

He listened closely as the sound of steady breathing and an equally steady heartbeat echo around him, mostly as obnoxious background noise. He slowly lifted his head and opened his eyes, squinting into the darkness that seemed much too intense but like nothing at all at the same time.  _ The Nothing _ , he thought to himself. Great, purgatory. Limbo. Whatever other words those pathetic humans used for the place one was in between life and the afterlife. 

He pushed himself up into a sitting position, body nearly screaming in protest. He glanced down at his body and it was just then that he realized all the differences. Two eyes, two human hands, tanned human skin… He lifted the hands closer to his face, examining them closely. He recognized all of his symbols that were tattooed onto his new skin. He arched a brow curiously as they grew fainter the longer he stared at them. 

He slowly managed to stumble to his feet but collapsed forward onto his hands and knees before he could even take a step. He let out a short groan of pain, cursing under his breath as his limbs jolted from the sudden impact. He cursed this new body, and he cursed its damned senses. He looked around, frowning deeply and looking around before forcing himself up onto his feet once again. 

This time, he’s able to successfully walk forward into the darkness. He could still hear the sound of the heartbeat and the breathing as well as the faint pitter-patter of his bare human feet against the surface of the Nothing. 

“Hello?!” He called out into the darkness, his voice sounding oddly flat and foreign to him. He slid his fingers up one of his forearms before sliding it up to his shoulder and cheek. It’d been… longer than he could even remember since he’d been in a body like this. A body of his own, without anyone else’s thoughts or emotions trapped inside. He found himself getting angry, and when he wasn’t answered, he got louder.

“I demand to be answered!” He snarled loudly, clenching his fists hard enough to make them ache. “I know there’s  _ someone  _ here! I command you to-” 

He was cut off as a bright white light suddenly exploded inside the Nothing, causing him to stagger back and shield his eyes with a pained yelp. When he opened his eyes again, they widened as he was met with the familiar sight of a certain deity. He swallowed as the face of Axolotl slowly became visible through the shimmery, brighter than white form. He nervously began to greet her, “Ahh, my dear old friend! Hello-” but stops short as her piercing eyes narrow. He chuckles faintly, hoping that he was hiding his nervousness well. “Why… am I here-”

“You know very well why you are here, Bill Cipher.” She tilted her head with a scrutinizing glare, causing Bill to stiffen in order to avoid flinching. He had no idea why, but she always triggered this visceral reaction of anxiety in him. She never got truly mad at him; frustrated, yes, but she was mostly just… disappointed. That pissed Bill off immensely, but it also made his skin crawl for reasons he didn’t know.

He grimaced. “So… What’s the deal, you all-knowing amphibian?” He asked. “Am I finally dead for good?” When she laughed at him, Bill felt one of his eyes twitch in annoyance. Her voice was far too pure and oddly comforting for his liking. 

“Your punishment, as I’m sure you recall, is immortality, Cipher.” She said, smiling as Bill’s eyes narrowed. 

“Yeah, tell me something new.” He muttered, looking up at her again. “Where am I going next then?” He asked. She smiled knowingly, and the expression proceeded to make his skin crawl again.  _ She’s enjoying this a bit much, the damned sadist _ , he thought to himself. He didn’t have much in terms of powers in Nothing, but he was always grateful that his thoughts and mind were his and his alone. His physical form, however, was another situation entirely, and knowing that Axolotl was well aware of this never failed to make him even more nervous. 

She stepped closer to him, and he suddenly found himself paralyzed with fear. The beating of that damned heart grew louder, and the breathing quickened, and he realized then that they both belonged to him. The heart was pounding beneath his ribcage, pulsing throughout his being in a way that made him cringe.

She clasped her hands over her heart, the light around her shrinking to an aura, almost like a full-body halo. “You cannot keep invoking my name if you do not truly wish to right your wrongs.” 

Bill growled angrily then, clenching his fists again. “They deserved everything they got! I did nothing wrong; _ they did _ !” He snapped. 

Aoxolotl’s eyes began to glow white and she scoffed in annoyance. “Tell me, Bill, who exactly  _ they _ were.” As soon as her words were spoken, images began to flash through Bill’s mind rapidly. Visions, no, memories of a whole town being set ablaze while people ran through the streets screaming out in agony and clinging onto the only thing they could; each other. When a couple of familiar faces flashed through his mind- faces he’d thought he’d wished he could forget about- he begged her to make it stop. He clutched at his hair with his hands, panting harshly as the screams died down to deafening silence. 

“H… How am I even supposed to make things okay again?” He asked, voice a lot softer and more vulnerable than he’d wanted it to be. “Everyone’s already dead because of me, and necromancy isn’t exactly a skillset of mine.” Axolotl hummed softly in response, her face instantly softening into an expression of sympathy.

She placed her hand on his shoulder, warmth instantly spreading across his skin. Her voice echoed as she reiterated her previous curse to him, “One way to absolve his crime; a different form, a different time.” She met his gaze. “You cannot modify the past, yes, but maybe instead you should try to find happiness in the present.”

Bill could almost hear the sappy violins screeching in his head. “Well, can’t exactly do that while in Nothing, now can I?!” He asked agitatedly. 

She smiled again at him. “You will be returned to the place you died, but you will be encased in stone until the day you are released by a key when the time is right.” She said. “You had better get used to this form because this time you will be stuck with it.” Bill grimaced.

“The chances of me actually being ‘happy’ are very low, you know that, right? Like, slim to none?” He retorted. 

“Well, you’d better figure it out, because this is the last time I choose to grant you pity.” Bill paused. That statement made his blood run cold. Why? He’d wanted to die this whole time. If he couldn’t continue to wreak the havoc that kept him satisfied, then why would he even want to exist anymore? Yes, he should be thankful, really, but… the statement terrified him. He wasn’t ready. 

He lifted his head to look up at her once more. “Fine. I’m ready to return,” he said. 

“Are you ready to acknowledge that you are the one to blame for your actions?” She asked him. 

He clenched his fists. “I stand by what I said the first time.” He said through gritted teeth. She sighed in disappointment. 

“Very well.” In a flash, her hand was wrapped around his wrist, painful bursts of energy pulsing through his entire being. He yelped yet again, unable to flinch yet able to tremble at the intensity, his eyes widening. Multiple images flashed through his mind from the beginning of his existence and to the ancient Egyptians, to his beginning in Gravity Falls, up to his end there. Faces he’d once forgotten and faces he’d come to remember all travel by at a nauseating speed. Nothing began to dissolve around them. 

Pine trees slowly began to shimmer into existence around them, going through various stages of their lives and experiencing multiple seasons in the span of a few seconds. The sun rose and set in a rapid loop, the shadows stretching and changing as rapidly as the sun and moon’s endless cycle. 

Axolotl’s voice broke through the bombardment, “In order to be truly happy, Bill Cipher, you must first accept that happiness can exist after tragedy without costing the happiness of others. Let’s see if someone else will be able to show you more than I can.” 

“W-Wait! What do you mean?!” He asked. “Stop speaking in riddles, dammit, and tell me what the hell you’re talking about!” Her eyes narrowed intensely at his outburst and in a bright, blinding flash… she’s gone. 

When he manages to open his eyes again, he’s able to look around at the towering pine trees that block out the sun’s light and cast shadows on the breeze-stirred grass. He catches sight of the water tower in the distance and grimaces. “If I’d have known that Gravity Falls was gonna be this much of a nuisance, I would’ve never shown my face here. Ever.” He mutters. 

The wind carries to him not only the sounds of singing birds but Axolotl’s voice. “Saw his own dimension burn; misses home, but can’t return.” 

“Says he’s happy, he’s a liar.”

“Blame the arson for the fire.” 

“A different form, a different time.”

“A different form, a different time…”

_ “A different form, a different time.”  _

He catches himself breathing a bit heavily once the voice stops, leaving him alone in the woods with only the chirping birds and rustling leaves and branches for company.  _ True happiness can’t exist after a tragedy _ , he thinks.  _ There will always be irreversible damage that’ll leave scars much deeper than one’s physical form. _

He sighs softly, staring ahead at the clearing in front of him and wondering if he’ll actually get it right this time. In the same breath, however, he also asks himself what exactly he’s meant to do. 

**Author's Note:**

> Howdy, guys! I started writing this fanfic around late 2016 to early 2017 and have been attempting to write it ever since. I published the first chapter once, but I deleted it because I didn't like it. I didn't like how I presented the plot for the story, and I didn't like how I set everything up in general. 
> 
> I now have a much better plotline that's less wordy and troublesome, and I actually like it 100% better than the old one. With that being said, as the title suggests, this is only the prologue and isn't rated as a result. The actual story will be rated explicit due to graphic themes such as sex, mentioned rape/non-con, and graphic violence. The main couple I'll be focusing on is Bill/Dipper, and the series will follow their recovery from their experienced traumas as well as Bill's realization that maybe he shouldn't be an asshole in general. 
> 
> I really hope this fandom isn't as dead as I think it is, but... only time will tell, I suppose! If you enjoyed it, please feel free to leave a comment! I love reading them and try to respond to every one! Much love, and happy reading!


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